Melted/damaged dashboards

[Søren Hansen]

Hi all. 

After reading on an American Toyota forum. I can understand that damaged/melted dashboards caused by excessive heat and UV radiation from sitting in the sun on hot days, is not uncommon. it is limited to some older models. Mostly Camry's. 

We are going down to the south of France in the cross this year. And they are already talking about a really hot summer in mainland Europe. 

Has anyone on this forum ever heart of damaged dashboards because of sun/heat in Europe om any Toyota? 

Thanks 😊

[tfc]

You could take a chance on one of these, they use a lot of these in the hot parts of the states, CAL and Arizona.. 

also on ebay 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002342199812.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.31.5125643e7Uwgjf&algo_pvid=d7a1372a-6787-4059-b5aa-daf5b40e2dad&algo_exp_id=d7a1372a-6787-4059-b5aa-daf5b40e2dad-15&pdp_npi=3%40dis!GBP!29.1!17.46!!!!!%40211bf2da16867859507394920d0787!12000020187210033!sea!GB!2901351403&curPageLogUid=kiqso2qjnnHB

I dont know the dash layout of the Auris , found this dont know if its the correct one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DYBANP-Dashboard-Cover-Toyota-2013-2017/dp/B091TR23X5

 

[TonyHSD]

When driving won’t be a problem as you gonna use the ac which will reduce the temperature instead the cabin. Direct sun light may cause excess heat when the car is parked and I highly recommend windscreen sunshade, those shiny ones works the best and make sure you stick it up the windscreen not only the dashboard. You gonna stop any heat and uv rates coming inside the car.  
https://amzn.eu/d/8726LIf

 

[tfc]

UV is the number one cause of the dash cracking, its ok putting up a windscreen shade but it wont help when your driving thats why you see a lot of vehicles with dash mats, I use to go over to the states twice a year in the peak seasons driving around and it was so hot I had to lay towels over the seat to stop me burning the back of my legs  and back when I had shorts on.

Moral of the story never have a open top car with plastic upvc seats because they are a botty burner. 

[APS]

On 6/15/2023 at 7:58 AM, TonyHSD said:

I highly recommend windscreen sunshade, those shiny ones works the best

+1 from me. These work great. Back in the days they were just simple folded cardboard ones that you simply held in place with the sun visors. 

[flash22]

The US is a very different market, in a lot of the lower states car are exposed to high temps and UV all year round, nothing like we get in Europe

Also, Euro and Japanese built cars are built to a much higher standard the glass also has UV resistance just due to the way it is laminated

Dated 2010

Toyota has announced details of innovative glass technology that reduces ultraviolet (UV) penetration into the front of the car by approximately 99 per cent.

The new front-door glass will be used in new cars to be launched in 2011.

Combined with UV-reducing windscreens, the use of the new front-door glass will result in an approximate 99 per cent reduction in overall UV penetration through the front-door windows and windscreen. Toyota estimates that the resulting sunburn protection is equivalent to that of wearing gloves while driving.

Windscreens, which use laminated glass, reduce UV by approximately 99 per cent through the use of a UV-blocking film between two sheets of glass in the laminating process. Door windows, however, generally use single-piece tempered glass that is often instilled with UV-absorbing material to achieve approximately 89 per cent UV protection.

For the new front-door glass technology, the interior side of the window glass has been surfaced with a high-performance UV-absorbing film to achieve approximately 99 per cent UV-reduction.

[AisinW]

Melting dashboard was only on 2000s upper level leather Lexus and V6 camry, Sienna, Venza, Avalon. Newer dashboard have revised materials.

Cheaper cars like Corolla IM /auris 2, Corolla, Camry are made out of PVC  durable plastics. No worry about crack dashboard.   PVC materials last forever and that's why Window World offer transferable Lifetime warranty PVC door and windows. 

[YarisHybrid2016]

Ironic...lower spec is better.

I've been debating for some time: external or internal protection? I've thought about getting a window cover that goes on the OUTSIDE of the car. The advantage being the windshield and some of the body is protected from the heat as well as the underside of the interior from IR radiation from hot components.

Sun covers that are put on the inside of cars may protect against UV, but they still allow the interior to get warm. It maybe isn't a big deal, but if you're going to go part of the way, might as well go all the way.

I've seen some good covers that hook over the wing mirrors, so they aren't trapping in the door seals and damaging those.

The other thing I do is always park back-end towards the south/sun, so the tinted windows (which already block much UV and IR) are working to protect the interior. The parcel shelf/rear seat headrests gets the majority of the sunlight, but the rest of the interior is largely out of direct sunlight, which makes all the difference.

Also, the rear of the car is generally steeper than the windshield, so less area is exposed to the sun in the first instance, and increases the relative thickness of the glass. The angle of the windshield allows much more of the interior to be exposed to sunlight.

I find this works well, even in the "relatively cool" UK in the middle of summer with temperatures hitting +40 deg. C in the shade. The seats in my car have leather edging, but I've never found these to be hot. They are still in great condition, even at 9 years old.

[AisinW]

Well, if you have Camry or more luxirious cars, we should have garage.  That assumption is pretty good.  The leather materials are not as durable as simple synthetic fabric and PVC. 

Journalist always critisized hard PVC plastics.  Not all plastics are the same, and PVC last forever even under constant UV light.  Regular PE or PP plastics will degrade but it also depends who made the PE plastics. 

I had Sienna with leather and nice shoft dashboard but the dashboard have some cracks after 12 years FL sun.  Fortunately, Toyota replace it for free even at 12 years old.